Bell OH58A N5800K

Summary

On 18 September 1999 at about 13:50 local time, a Bell OH58A registered N5800K, operated by R&B Helicopters, Inc., was involved in an accident near Salinas, California, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

18 September 1999 at 13:50

Classification

Accident

Location

Salinas, California, United States

Coordinates

36.6406, -121.6201

Aircraft

Bell OH58A

Registration

N5800K

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

R&B Helicopters, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Dawn

NTSB number

LAX99LA319

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain an adequate clearance from all ground obstacles during a low altitude aerial application flight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was performing low level aerial application work. Wires ran perpendicular to his flight path at the end of a crop row and a berm was located just in front of the wires. The pilot planned to fly under the wires. As he flew under the wires he heard a loud noise to his rear and the helicopter began to rotate clockwise. He increased pitch on the collective and climbed to approximately 100 feet. He could not control the rotation and completed an autorotation to a hard landing. A ground witness saw the helicopter's tail contact the berm. The tail rotor blades were fractured and separated, and, the tail rotor drive shaft was fractured midway between the aft short shaft and the tail rotor gearbox. The fracture exhibited torsional overload signatures angled aft along a 45-degree plane from the bottom to the top of the shaft. The torsional twist was in a clockwise direction as viewed from the rear. The tail rotor drive shaft normally rotates clockwise as viewed from the rear. No preimpact malfunctions were identified with the tail rotor gearbox or pitch control.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.